2 lights don't fix a wrong

President Barack Obama seems to be on the right track regarding education ? for a change. But it won't throw much light on the thick darkness he created.

The first light that appears to have clicked on is his Early Learning Initiative.

Voluminous research has revealed that rapid brain development occurs in the first years of life. It becomes evident that quality early learning programs help diminish the gap lower-income students often suffer in vocabulary, social and emotional development.

Therefore it is commendable that our president understands the connection between life conditions, poverty, outcome and intervention. The president proposes to invest $75 billion over 10 years to accomplish this goal of high-quality early learning for a child, beginning at birth and continuing to age 5. This is good, with a long-term outcome - no silver-bullet fix - for a change.

The second light has gone on with his My Brothers' Keeper Initiative, an effort to help young black and Latino men avoid the "school-to-prison pipeline" and reach their potential. Obama's proposal is aimed at improving the lives of young black and Latino men by bringing businesses and foundations together with government agencies.

Again, there is the recognition of a problem mostly based in poverty.

However, President Obama has done irreparable damage to the public school system everywhere else with his darkness-inspiring wolves of privatization, charter/voucher school skimming and the profit hounds of high-stakes testing.

Why does he understand the impact of poverty on the poor from birth to age 5 but insist His Race to the Top is working? RTTP is little more than an extension of No Child Left Behind. In case anyone missed the point, NCLB is to education what slavery is to freedom.

The impossible standard of 100 percent proficiency of all students by the year 2014 with the closing of community schools, and the removal of teachers as a result, is nothing shy of obscene. That parents, teachers, students and Americans have tolerated this is the real failure in public education. How dare this be accepted? And more offensively, how dare anyone with an IQ above an armadillo allow schools to be measured and closed by this false measure. How?

Again, how is the disconnect possible? On the one hand, there is recognition that birth-5 poverty has an impact so devastating that intervention is required. And that segments of our society (black and Latino kids) are so disenfranchised that they need both public and private aid. But the rest of our education system is filled with huge percentages of these same children, and no intervention is required?

What has President Obama done in the rest of the K-12 system? Promote, foster and force testing, school closings and math and reading only on the neediest of the needy.

Those of us fighting the fight don't understand. Oh, and teachers got an avuncular pat on the head and smiley face wordage that they are important in Obama's State of the Union message. Thanks, but the high-stakes testing continues.

So a great education disconnect prevails throughout the land. Just because someone turns two little lights on doesn't mean the overwhelming, destructive darkness he created goes away.

It is very evident that President Obama has been no friend to public education.

Perhaps we have to shine a floodlight on him.

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2 lights don't fix a wrong

President Barack Obama seems to be on the right track regarding education ? for a change. But it won't throw much light on the thick darkness he created.